Deja Vu // Ateez

Eighteen

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"So, San is the one who's in the lab getting tested by my dad and Jongho is the one who is getting medical care in the paramedic unit."

Yeosang nodded his head along with the others. "Then why are you guys in here if they're out there?" Felix asked, confusion written all over his face.

"Because we aren't a part of the Surge. We were on our way back home to Hala Hala when we found out Yuri was actually working with the Surge instead of us." Yeosang explained.

"Hala Hala is real?" Felix asked with intriguing eyes. "I've heard stories about it, but I thought it was just a rumor."

Yeosang smiled at him. "It's real, alright."

"What is it actually like?" Felix was sitting down facing him when he asked. The young boy has grown to like the male's locked behind bars.

"What do you want to know?" Seonghwa asked, making Felix look over his shoulder to look at him.

"All i've heard was that you guys blew up half the city a couple years ago." Felix said, then looked down at his lap. "My friend Chan, was obsessed with figuring out where and what Hala Hala was, so he did his own research, only finding out you guys live in the mountains and are well hidden and the only way to find you guys is if you become a part of it as well."

"Well, he was right." Yeosang started. "Hala isn't like the Surge, they don't want to take over the world and destroy everything that tries to get in their way, instead, they want to start over at life, especially for those who lost it when they weren't given a choice. It wasn't fair to them that a group of people decided to barge in and ruin everything they had, so Hala wants to give back to them."

Felix had brought his knees up and placed his head on them, eyes bulging out of his head as he listened carefully.

"Once the Surge realized that there were people willing to fight back, that's when they built the city, hoping that it blocked out the rest of the world, pretending like nothing lived beyond the walls." Yeosang couldn't help the harsh tone that came with the last sentence.

Felix sagged his shoulders a litte. "You know, when they figured out that Chan was doing research on Hala Hala, they sent him away somewhere." Felix's voice was barely above a whisper. "I never got to say goodbye."

"What happened," Wooyoung scooted closer, grabbing the bars with curious eyes. "I mean, if you're comfortable with talking about it.

Felix sent him a sad smile and kept his head on his knees.

"I'm not really sure what happened to him. The Surge has its weird ways of living, of running this place, making sure that every piece of the puzzle fits just right." Felix started playing with his shoelaces, feeling everyone's eyes on him. "You're ten years old when you take the test. If you pass, they send you off and put you in a Unit, like the Paramedic Unit, the Technologist Unit, the Combatant Unit, and many more. You don't get to choose where, only because the test is what places you."

"So where was Chan placed?" Wooyoung asked.

"Chan was different, they didn't know where to place because he fit in every single Unit."

Seonghwa raised an eyebrow. "Is that even possible?"

"Apparently," Felix shrugged. "Mark and Irene had him do the test multiple times. Somewhere in the system, there was a slip up and instead of having dreams, he started having memories."